The first half went well enough other than a silly goal conceded within the first three minutes of the game. A rusty-looking Jackson was slow to keep up with the line when the ball was cleared on the right side of the field, allowing the Cornerpin striker to beat the offside trap, handball the ball into his path and run through unchallenged to slot home in the bottom right-hand corner.
Smithfield were on top for the other 42 minutes of the first half although they looked very one-dimensional, able only to cause problems down the left side.
Lacking any real midfield options (with new players still learning how the Smithfield play and some players obviously below par on fitness) and with players having to play out of position to cover absent team members, Smithfield were unable to break down the opposition, although the Cornerpin keeper made a few great saves at close range.
The second half went pretty much the same way, although there were more clear-cut chances that unfortunately had a habit of hitting the post and rebounding out.
Smithfield were pressing for a goal when a silly mistake in midfield left the Cornerpin strikers a clear route through to goal, and the chance was taken as the striker again cooly slotted past a helpless Stanyway in the bottom corner again.
This seemed to buck Smithfields ideas up and within minutes they brought it back to 2-1 with a brlliant individual goal from Evans, who was far and above the best Smithfield player on the pitch. After a sloppy backpass by the Cornerpin defense, Evans chased a lost cause and managed to get there first, calmly slotting the ball past the oncoming Cornerpin keeper.
More sloppy defending from Smithfield followed as the defence relied on Askey to deal with a difficult ball over the top, and nobody was there in support as he was hustled by two Cornerpin strikers. Again, the Cornerpin striker had a clear route to goal and basted it past the oncoming Stanway into the top-right hand corner of the net.
All-in-all this was a decent enough performance from Smithfield and had two or three of the six shots that hit the woodwork gone in, this report would have been taking about how Smithfield caused Cornerpin to crumble under the constant pressure. As it is, the Smithfield players went back to the pub dejected, unable to wait for the next game against Oaktree to make amends.
MotM: Rob Evans
Scorers: Rob Evans (1)
Report by Ian Stanway
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